fiddle

 
Pronunciation: /ˈfɪd(ə)l/

noun

  • 1 informal a violin.
  • 2 informal, chiefly British an act of defrauding, cheating, or falsifying: a major mortgage fiddle
  • 3British informal a small task that seems awkward and unnecessarily complex: inserting a tape is a bit of a fiddle
  • 4 Nautical a ledge or raised rim that prevents things from rolling or sliding off a table in rough seas.

verb

  • 1 [no object] touch or fidget with something in a restless or nervous way: Lena fiddled with her cup
  • tinker with something in an attempt to make minor adjustments or improvements: he fiddled with the blind, trying to prevent the sun from shining in her eyes
  • (fiddle around) pass time aimlessly, without doing or achieving anything of substance.
  • 2 [with object] informal, chiefly British falsify (figures, data, or records), typically in order to gain money: everyone is fiddling their expenses
  • 3 [no object] informal play the violin.

Phrases

fiddle while Rome burns

be concerned with relatively trivial matters while ignoring the serious or disastrous events going on around one.

(as) fit as a fiddle

in very good health.

on the fiddle

informal, chiefly British engaged in cheating or swindling.

play second fiddle

have a subordinate role to someone or something; be treated as less important than someone or something: he resented playing second fiddle to his younger brother

Origin:

Old English fithele, denoting a violin or similar instrument (originally not an informal or depreciatory term), related to Dutch vedel and German Fiedel, based on Latin vitulari 'celebrate a festival, be joyful', perhaps from Vitula, the name of a Roman goddess of joy and victory. Compare with viol